First woman to coach in men's league: 'Some players … we probably haven't hit it off so well'

Shannon Millar is a pioneer in Aussie rules football.

She's the first woman from the Northern Territory to achieve level three coaching accreditation: good enough to coach in the AFL.

She's turned her club's women's team around.

And working as midfield coach for the best men's team in the Territory, she's proud to say she's the first woman in such a role in the top NT men's competition.

But there have been challenges along the way. Not least, her own attitude.

«Coming into my first men's season, there was a lot of self-doubt and if I was the right person for the role, because a lot of these footballers have a lot more playing experience,» she says.

«As soon as I overcame that and started building that relationship with the players, it became something I enjoyed, and a different challenge.»

While the woman's side of Aussie rules has boomed in recent years, women within coaching ranks still make up a clear minority.

Around 1,600 women and girls coached at some level in 2021, but the ratio of men to women in coaching has stayed at about 15 to one, despite the women's footy explosion.

Even within the shining light of women's football, the AFLW, just 30 per cent of all coaches are women. And there's not a single female head coach working this season.

Plus, given incomes are so low — less than $10,000 a season for many assistant coaches — it's hard for almost all to consider AFLW coaching a profession right now.

But as the promise of players becoming fully professional draws closer, the Sydney Swans' new AFLW head coach Scott Gowans says now is the time to act.

«We have to get it right now, so that in 2026 or 2030 or whenever it may be, the bottom line is we've created a really good talent pool and helped create equalisation across female